Career: After shining in stage performances during the 1950s, Rossiter was handed the opportunity to shine on-screen in A Kind of Loving (1962). His comedic timing and dedication to the craft was equally at home on TV with a number of guest appearances on shows such as Z Cars, The Avengers and Steptoe and Son. During this time he continued to work in theatre, memorably starring as Adolf Hitler in 1969 play The Resistible Rise Arturo Ui. It was the 1970s that saw the hardworking star emerge from being a well respected actor within the industry to become a household name. Star turns in Rising Damp and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin proved he was sitcom master; at the end of the decade he appeared in a number of much-loved adverts for Cinzano with Joan Collins. Rossiter played Collins's bumbling partner who amusingly always wrecks her splendorous attire by emptying copious amounts of the drink all over her. In the 1980s Rossiter continued to star on TV in shows such as Tripper's Day, but his life would tragically be cut short 16 days before his 58th birthday as he had a heart attack backstage at the Lyric Theatre in London during a performance of Loot.